Events January January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. January 20 – The Cavite mutiny was an uprising of Filipino military personnel of Fort San Felipe, the Spanish arsenal in Cavite, Philippine Islands.Foreman, J., 1906, The set course for her patrol area off the northeastern coast of the main Japanese island Honshū. She arrived, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons
February February 2 – The government of the United Kingdom buys a number of forts on the Gold Coast, from the Netherlands. February 4 – A great solar flare, and associated geomagnetic storm, makes northern lights visible as far south as Cuba. February 13 – Rex, the most famous parade on Mardi Gras, parades for the first time in New Orleans for Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia. February 17 – Filipino priests José Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora, collectively known as Gomburza, are executed in Bagumbayan Fields, Manila, Philippines by the authorities of New Spain, on charges of subversion arising from the 1872 Cavite mutiny. February 20 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City. February 22 – The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, nominating James Black as its presidential nominee.
March March 1 – In the United States, Yellowstone National Park (once dubbed "Colter's Hell" after John Colter, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) is established as the world's first national park. March 4 – The Boston Globe is founded in Boston, Massachusetts, as the largest newspaper of the New England region. March 5 George Westinghouse receives a United States patent for the "failsafe" automatic railway air brake. The Tichborne case is decided in London against claimant Arthur Orton (who, as a result, is convicted of perjury in 1874). March 9 – Alfred B. Miller and Elmer Crockett found the South Bend Tribune newspaper in the United States. March 11 – Work begins on the Seven Sisters Colliery in South Wales, located on one of the richest coal sources in Britain. March 16 – 1872 FA Cup Final: In the first ever final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest football competition, Wanderers F.C. defeat Royal Engineers A.F.C. 1–0 at The Oval in Kennington, London. March 26 – The 7.4–7.9 Lone Pine earthquake shakes eastern California, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme); 27 people are killed and 56 injured.
April April 10 – The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska. April – Japan introduces its first modern paper currency (designed by Italian engraver Edoardo Chiossone) in the form of Meiji Tsuho notes. These are initially worth up to 1 yen before higher denominations are printed/released in June and August.
May May 4 – The magazine Popular Science is first published in the United States. May 10 – Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States, although she is a year too young to qualify and does not appear on the ballot. May 14 – The Battle of Mañaria, near Bilbao, Spain during the Third Carlist War (1872–1876). May 15 – The New Zealand Wars end after 17 years, with the conclusion of Te Kooti's War; Maori spiritual leader Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuk crosses the Waikato River, and enters the territory of the Māori King Tāwhiao, where he is granted asylum. May 22 Reconstruction: U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act of 1872 into law, restoring full civil rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers. Georges Bizet's comic opera Djamileh is premièred at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, France. May – Rangers F.C., founded in March as an Association football club in Glasgow (Scotland) by brothers Moses and Peter McNeil, Peter Campbell and William McBeath, play their first ever game on the public pitches of Glasgow Green, a 0 to 0 draw against Callander.
June June 14 – Trade unions are legalised in Canada.Daniel Alan DeGroff (2012). "Artur Hazelius and the ethnographic display of the Scandinavian peasantry: a study in context and appropriation". European Review of History: Revue Européenne d'Histoire. 19 (2): 229–248. doi:10.1080/13507486.2012.662947. S2CID 143535084. June 15 – Thomas Hardy anonymously publishes his novel Under the Greenwood Tree in England.
July July 1 Thomas François Burgers becomes State President of the South African Republic.Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices, South African Republic (Transvaal): Heads of State: 1857-1877 (Accessed on 14 April 2017) Schenker, predecessor of DB Schenker, the worldwide logistics and freight operator, is founded in Vienna, Austria. July 4 The Society of Jesus is pronounced illegal in the German Empire. Tsukuba University is founded in Japan, as a teacher training college."About the Nordic Museum". Nordiska museet. Retrieved February 9, 2026. July 15 – Hochi Mail News, later Hochi Daily News, a Japanese language newspaper, is first published in Tokyo, although it changes coverage from general news to a sports newspaper from December 1949.
July 18 – Mexican President Benito Juarez dies of a heart attack, and Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada becomes interim president. July 19 – Explorer William Gosse reaches Uluru in central Australia and names it Ayers Rock.
August August 22 – The Australian Overland Telegraph Line is completed, providing a telegraphic link between Australia and the rest of the world for the first time.
September September 1 – A group of Icaiche Maya under Marcos Canul attack the British garrison at Orange Walk Town in British Honduras. September 17 – Shiseido Pharmacy Shop, predecessor of Shiseido, a major worldwide cosmetics brand, is founded in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan. September 18 – Upon the death of King Charles XV and IV of Sweden-Norway, he is succeeded as King of both crowns by his brother Oscar II. September 26 – The first Shriners Temple (called Mecca) is established in New York City.
October October 1 – The Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College begins its first academic session (the university is later renamed Virginia Tech). The first case is reported in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, of the Great Epizootic of 1872 (equine influenza, or the "horse flu") which will substantially disrupt life in North America by mid-December. October 15 – Tongzhi, The 8th Emperor of the Qing dynasty marries Lady Alute (Empress Jiashun) October 16 – University College Wales (later to become Aberystwyth University) begins its first academic session.
November November 5 1872 United States presidential election: Ulysses S. Grant defeats Horace Greeley. Women's suffrage: In defiance of the law, American suffragist Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time (on November 18 she is served an arrest warrant, and in the subsequent trial is fined $100, which she never pays). November 7 – The Mary Celeste sets sail from New York; bound for Genoa, Italy. November 9 – Great Boston Fire of 1872: In Boston, Massachusetts, a large fire begins to burn on Lincoln Street (the 2-day disaster destroys about of the city, 776 buildings, much of the financial district and causes US$60 million in damage). November 11 – U.S. government geologist Clarence King reveals the diamond hoax in Wyoming. November 12 – Dresdner Bank is founded in Dresden, Germany. November 13 – Claude Monet begins painting Impression, Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant, the painting that will give a name to Impressionism) as viewed from his hotel room at Le Havre in France. November 16 – The first ever Metropolitan Police strike in London. November 22 – "Spitzeder Swindle": Adele Spitzeder's pioneering Ponzi scheme in Munich collapses. November 27 – A meteor shower display of Andromedids is seen over France. November 29 American Indian Wars: The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River. Horace Greeley, President Ulysses S. Grant's opponent in this year's U.S. presidential election, dies. His electoral votes are divided among several candidates. November 30 – The first international Association football match to be recognised (retrospectively) by FIFA as "official" takes place at Hamilton Crescent, Scotland; the result is Scotland 0-0 England. Earlier international football matches have already taken place in 1870, in 1871 and again in 1872 at the Oval, London.
December December 1 Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada becomes constitutional President of Mexico. Responsible government is granted to Cape Colony (South Africa). Sir John Molteno, first Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope, forms the first Cape Cabinet which immediately plans to establish Cape Government Railways and take over the operation of all private railways in the Colony. December 3 – Assyriologist George Smith presents the first translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh, to a meeting of the Society of Biblical Archaeology in London. December 4 – The now-crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found (still seaworthy) by the British brig Dei Gratia in the Atlantic. December 9 – In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first African-American to govern a U.S. state. December 14 – President Ulysses S. Grant establishes the San Carlos Apache Reservation, in southeastern Arizona. December 21 – Challenger expedition: sails from Portsmouth, England, on the 4-year scientific expedition that lays the foundation for the science of oceanography.
Date unknown In the aftermath of the Paraguayan War, the new government of Paraguay makes peace with Brazil, granting reparations and territorial concessions. The Kolozsvári Egyetem, predecessor of the University of Szeged, is founded. Under Japan's Meiji Restoration: A conscription law, modeled on the French version, is issued. Universal public schools are called for. The first Marist Brothers travel to Australia. S. T. Dupont begins the manufacture of luxury leather goods in France. Kimberly, Clark and Co. is founded in Neenah, Wisconsin, by John A. Kimberly, Charles B. Clark, Havilah Babcock and Franklyn C. Shattuck. Essendon Football Club is founded in Melbourne, Australia. Summer: Swedish teacher, scholar, folklorist and museum director Artur Hazelius begins the Scandinavian-etnographic collection, which becomes the foundation to the Nordic Museum and Skansen open-air museum in Stockholm.
Births January–March
January 6 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian composer (d. 1915) January 11 – Georg Karo, German archaeologist (d. 1963) January 14 – Kerstin Hesselgren, Swedish politician (d. 1962) January 20 – Julia Morgan, American architect (d. 1957) January 23 – Gotse Delchev, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1903) January 31 – Zane Grey, American writer (d. 1939) February 2 – Abul Kasem, Bengali politician (d. 1936) February 5 – Mateo García de los Reyes, Spanish admiral and minister of the navy, organizer and first chief of the Spanish Navy submarine force (d. 1936) February 6 – Robert Maillart, Swiss civil engineer (d. 1940) February 11 – Hannah Mitchell, English socialist, suffragette (d. 1956) February 19 – Johan Pitka, Estonian entrepreneur, sea captain, and admiral (d. 1944) February 27 – Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, 3-time prime minister of Romania (d. 1950) February 28 – Mehdi Frashëri, Albanian politician, 15th Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1963) March 3 – Willie Keeler, American baseball player (d. 1923) March 7 – Piet Mondrian, Dutch painter (d. 1944) March 18 – Ludwig Herzer, Austrian musician and composer (d. 1939) March 19 – Anna Held, Polish-born French actress (d. 1918) March 23 – Michael Joseph Savage, 23rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1940) March 28 – José Sanjurjo, Spanish general (d. 1936)
April–June
April 9 – Léon Blum, French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1950) April 14 – Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Indian-born Islamic scholar, translator (d. 1953) April 29 – Harry Payne Whitney, American businessman, horse breeder (d. 1930)